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As for my beef regarding Nick Frost? Well, I love the “Cornetto Trilogy” which is the three films directed by Edgar Wright, which starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, i.e. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. These are all priceless films, as are the two series of Spaced which preceeded them.
It seems that when they’re not all together, it just doesn’t work, hence why I’ve always been disappointed by Simon Pegg’s films where he’s the lead, and I found his performances terrible in both Star Trek films reboot films and also the third and fourth Mission Impossible films – only Kill Me Three Times might break free of this curse. And for Edgar Wright, I had to turn off Scott Pilgrim Versus The World because it was boring me senseless.
And then onto Nick Frost. This man has zero charisma and just cannot pull anything off when he’s flying solo (even on a sleigh). Yes, he’s basically the same character in everything. Maybe that’s the problem, so he relies on decent writing. That can only come when he’s working together with Pegg and Wright, so here’s hoping a new movie trilogy is in the works, even if it did take ten years to complete the Cornetto Trilogy (which is so-called because the Cornetto features in all three films, albeit in The World’s End as just a passing reference).
Last Christmas had just one clever moment, when Clara was now revealed to be 62 years older, as if so much time had passed. And with Jenna Coleman being so much in demand, leading to me thinking that she’d be off after her second full series and three Christmas specials, but then he threw it away by having her wake up AGAIN, and be young again and with him whisking her off again like a giggly schoolgirl. So, yes, Clara will be with The Doctor again, for The Magician’s Apprentice, some time in 2015.
All that said, I do like the way The Doctor referred to Bellows (Maureen Beattie) as “the sexy one”…
The media also made a big deal about Michael Troughton (Patrick Troughton’s son) appearing in the episode, as Professor Albert, but he’s been an actor for years. I remember him most as Piers in The New Statesmen, alongside Rik Mayall. He was fine, here, same as in anything else. Still, the media always like to sensationalise things.
There’s also a brief early role for Dan Starkey as elf Ian. Dan is normally shown playing Strax the Sontaran. Sure, it’s amusing to see him do a turn in this Christmas episode, but surely it would’ve been better to cast an actor in the part who’s new to the Doctor Who canon?
Overall, I would’ve given Last Christmas 2/10, one for casting Maureen Beattie, and one for the ‘old Clara’ moment, but as Steven Moffat threw that one away, I’ve deducted a point. I should really deduct another point for giving us Father Christmas seen riding Rudolph like The Lone Ranger riding Tonto, after distracting the enemies by blowing a hole in the wall and throwing a tangerine in like a grenade, because it’s his calling card, and then sending in Santa-like toys on wheels.
However, then I wouldn’t be able to end this review on a double entendre so, yes, I’m giving Maureen Beattie one 😉
Doctor Who: Last Christmas is released on January 26th 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.
Score: 2 – 1 = 1/10
Director: Paul Wilmshurst
Producer: Paul Frift
Screenplay: Steven Moffat
Music: Murray Gold
Cast:
The Doctor: Peter Capaldi
Clara Oswald: Jenna Coleman
Santa Claus: Nick Frost
Danny Pink: Samuel Anderson
Ian: Dan Starkey
Wolf: Nathan McMullen
Shona: Faye Marsay
Ashley: Natalie Gumede
Bellows: Maureen Beattie
Professor Albert: Michael Troughton
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.